taking the plunge..

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Hello there, I'm a long time "lurker" here on WP, and I've finally decided to join in myself..

My name's Joshua and I'm a 25 year old boy from Bradford in West Yorkshire. I was diagnosed with aspergers in April of this year. I've always felt somewhat innately different or alien to other people and I was a "special needs" student at school labelled dyspraxic. However what I heard about AS though the media, such as reading the curious incident of the dog in the night-time; well I enjoyed the book but it described aspergers in a way that made it seem like the anthesis of what I am. I've always (perahps showing a lack of self-insight) considered myself more a "feeling" person than a logical one, and certainly not the mathsy, sceiney type (though I love facts and figures. My nickname at school was Statto for my ability to memorise reams of football statistics and information)

I've always struggled with employment and social interaction and to try and get back into the groove I took a volunteer position at an autism charity doing support work. I found the parallels between myself and the people I was "supporting" telling, though my AS manifested itself more mildy in general.

I later dated a beautiful and intelligent girl with high functioning autism, and though it ended in heartbreak and disaster (don't all love affairs? excuse me I'm getting cynical in my old age ) though our long chats and emails she explained to me the alternate AS perspectives on concepts like empathy, and more and more I realised they matched my own. Official diagnosis followed not so long after..

My interests sort of fall into two categories one is my "intellectual" (or as like to call it "poncy" haha) side. I'm into literature (modernists and beats specifically) and just love words, I'm very sensitive to the aesthetics of both their sound and how they look layed on the page, I'm innately philosophical and like to follow politics like a geeky special interest, more cos I enjoy the charts and stats about elections and things than any great ideological calling!

Then there's my nerdish side, I love Doctor Who and Marvel Comics. I often relate much more to fictional characters than I do the real folk around me to the point that they can almost seem realer somehow. The girl in my sig is Cassie, a character in a British teen drama called Skins. As unusual as it is for a man in his mid-twenties to feel this way about a fictional seventeen year old I think of her as my fictional twin.

I also love music, but who doesn't?

Sorry, that was very long and probably not riveting reading, but see you all around the boards.

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

thank you! I've read a lot of your posts. I like the sixties too. Especially the music.

Is your username a Scott Walker reference?

Is it! A lyric from Bolivia 95 on Tilt. Scott is one of my favourite artists. I've been using this as my username all over the internet for a number of years and I'm always really happy when people "get" the reference. I've got use to being called LBC by people. It's just part of me now haha.

Good to see another Scott Walker fan. Impressive as Scott 4 was, I'm even more into his later stuff like Tilt and The Drift than his 60s output.

I think I like both about equally but I've never heard anything that sounds like his later more avant garde work before or since. He deserves that over used superlative "genius".

Welcome aboard, Joshua! Glad you decided to "take the plunge," as you put it.

I was a long time lurker as well (more than 3 years).

Hello, Joshua - and welcome to the Wrong Planet community.

Hi Joshua!

Welcome!

To WrongPlanet!! !

Welcome mate